Jumping at Straws

The glossy JumpStart PAC hit piece showing up in Vallejo mailboxes at the last minute smacks of desperation, as they feel their grip on the controls of local government slipping. They can’t even identify the targets responsible for all their grievances except as shadowy “so-called progressives,” which leaves them running against the ghosts of elections past. They devote an entire page to a fine levied against a PAC from three years ago that has played no role in this election at all. They conveniently forget the even larger fine levied against the police union PAC allied with JumpStart that fought Measure A, which voters passed to remove the binding arbitration requirement for resolving contract disputes.

In a wildly over the top claim they blame these generic “Naysayers” for the city’s bankruptcy. Citing a mythical period of progressive control of the council, they have the gall to point fingers at others for the loss of police and fire protection. In fact the lavish public safety union contracts, well beyond what the city could afford, combined with their insistence on using binding arbitration were major contributors to the bankruptcy and subsequent loss of services.

Apparently these horrible straw man Naysayers fight almost every business that wants to come to Vallejo because they oppose growth of any kind. Imagine! I’ve never actually met any of this breed of progressive. I do know many who selectively oppose dumb projects like a proposed polluting cement plant on a site now surrounded by schools and neighborhoods whose residents already suffer health impacts from nearby industry. These progressives also favor economic development that looks to future opportunities for growth instead of trying to recreate a fading echo of past industrial glory days that will never return.

The catchy JumpStart propaganda slogan says that progress never starts with no. Actually, it often does. Saying no to the JumpStart slate and voting for every candidate they attack in their glossy flyer would certainly be a giant step forward.